


Really Horrifying, and also Romantic

by chicago_ruth



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Halloween, Haunted Houses, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-29
Updated: 2012-10-29
Packaged: 2017-11-17 08:04:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/549375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chicago_ruth/pseuds/chicago_ruth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dating Gwaine is always an adventure. So Merlin shouldn't be surprised that Gwaine takes him to a cemetery on their anniversary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Really Horrifying, and also Romantic

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [merlingwainebar halloween contest](http://merlingwainebar.livejournal.com/96974.html). I used images [five](http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/image-files/spooky-graveyardl.jpg) and [eight](http://www.amerindea.com/pics/Candle2.jpg) Thank you to jela for the beta. :)

Dating Gwaine was always an adventure.

Take the time that Gwaine had decided they needed to go skinny-dipping, "absolutely _right now_ ," so they'd ended up jumping the fence on the public pool and freezing their balls off in the cold water. ("I thought this'd be sexier.") Or the time that regular chili wasn't good enough, it had to be the _extra spicy_ chili, and then somehow Gwaine had convinced Merlin that blowjobs would be a good idea. ("Sorry, I didn't think it was still sticking to me!") And Merlin had learned that vacation with Gwaine meant showing up at the airport, buying a last minute ticket, and hoping for the best. ("Right, I forgot that it's winter down south.")

So it really shouldn't have surprised him that for their second anniversary, when Gwaine said he wanted to go someplace _really amazing_ , they ended up breaking into a cemetery.

"Gwaine, I love you, but I think you got romantic mixed up with really, really, horrifying."

Gwaine laughed and wrapped an arm around Merlin's shoulder; he used his other hand to light their way with a torch. "No, this'll be great. I promise."

And where had Merlin heard _that_ before.

The entire place was deserted, the moonlight filtering through the trees and casting long shadows. Every branch seemed to be a finger, reaching out to grab at them. The wind made the branches creak, and Merlin could feel his good humor slowly receding. Even their footsteps seemed to echo, loud stomping that gave away their position to anybody--or anything--within a radius a mile wide.

Merlin balled his hands into fists and pointedly didn't lean further into Gwaine's embrace. "So what, you want to just enjoy the spooky atmosphere a bit?"

Gwaine shook his head. "Nah. It's more exciting than that."

He led them past all the gravestones, towards a rickety looking building and knocked on the door.

Merlin huffed a laugh. "You asking the ghosts for permission to--"

The door swung open, and fuck, Merlin could not stop himself from reaching out for Gwaine and gripping his arm tight. "What was that. What was that. _What was that_."

Gwaine's smile widened. "I think we got permission."

He took a step forward, trying to lead Merlin along, but fuck, no, Merlin braced himself against it and refused to budge. "I'm not going in there."

"Why not?"

"Because I am not messing around with ghosts."

Gwaine maneuvered them so they were facing each other, his brows drawn together. "Are you actually scared? I thought you liked scary things."

"Yes! Scary movies and games and fake haunted houses where I know it's people in costumes. We're in an actual cemetery here! With actual dead things right under our feet!" Merlin pointed at the ground below them to emphasize his point.

"I don't think there's actual dead people right here though, the graves are over there, and I doubt they'd build a house over--" Gwaine cut off when he realized that Merlin wasn't appreciating the humor. "Okay, if you're really worried, we can leave, but I did have something great planned. If you can trust me just a little bit more?"

The problem was, despite all the mishaps, despite Gwaine's penchant for getting them into trouble, Merlin _did_ trust Gwaine. Yes, there was an abundance of adventure, but there were also just as many instances of giving in to Merlin's misgivings, of slowing down when Merlin asked him to.

Merlin leaned forward to rest his head on Gwaine's shoulder. "Fine. But I'd better have my mind blown."

"I do plan on blowing _some_ thing."

The joke wasn't even that great, but Merlin started laughing loudly, a mixture of fear and relief all in one. Gwaine waited until Merlin's laughter subsided, pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, and then began leading him back through the door.

The torch illuminated just enough for them to see where they were going, and even so Merlin was terrified of stepping on something weird or tripping over an uneven floorboard. He gripped Gwaine's hand tighter, his heart still racing, and tried to convince himself that Gwaine would never take him to any place that was actually dangerous. (...Not on purpose, anyway.)

The first room they passed through must have been the living room, with the large fireplace and the dust-and-cobweb covered sofa. Moonlight streamed past the curtains--Merlin wished that whoever had lived here before had bothered to draw the curtains before they'd left--highlighting just the faintest strip of the room.

Their footsteps turned softer when they passed over a carpet. The creaking floorboards relented; Merlin sighed and briefly rested his head on Gwaine's shoulder. Not being able to see where they were going was freaking him out even more though, so he carefully looked up, and was met with a cold, dead stare.

"F--" Merlin bit down on the curse, if only because he knew, he just _knew_ that the moment he said anything that fucking doll sitting on that side table would come to life and attack him.

Gwaine didn't seem to notice it at all. He stepped onto another creaking floorboard and waved the flashlight ahead of them. "Okay, it's just up these stairs." 

Merlin saw the vague outline of stairs, with nothing but inky blackness at the top. "Right. Sure. Of course." He moved his hand so he was gripping Gwaine's arm, and it probably would have looked comical to anybody else, what with Merlin's height advantage. But screw them, Merlin was just on the edge of terrified and if he wanted to cling to his boyfriend, he damn well would.

The stairs were even harder to see around than the rest of the building had been, and it was so quiet that every single breath he and Gwaine took seemed to echo. Slowly--it had to be slowly, they could barely see where they were stepping--they made their way up.

Merlin wanted to say something to lighten the mood a bit, but he'd also seen enough horror movies to realize that giving away their location could be a very bad idea. So he stayed silent, moved even closer to Gwaine, and kept his eyes wide open.

Maybe if he'd been less attentive, he wouldn't have noticed as early as he did, but with all of him on edge, he spotted the faint glow immediately.

"Gwaine. Gwaine. There's something up there." Merlin pointed near the top, where the wall was dimly highlighted in orange.

Gwaine shook his head. "What? No, this place is deserted." He pointed the torch near the top of the stairs, but that just washed out the other light. "See? Nothing."

"Gwaine--"

"Let's keep going. I think you're letting your imagination get to you."

There couldn't have been that many stairs, but they took each step so carefully that it seemed to take forever to reach the top. Merlin wasn't even sure he wanted to reach the destination though, because the faint glow was getting stronger and stronger, and Gwaine had stopped trying to explain away its existence at about the halfway mark.

There was definitely a light coming from one of the rooms on the second floor. The door was half open, but undeniably, something was flickering inside, and Merlin actually ground his feet into the ground and whimpered.

"Maybe it's just a streetlamp," Gwaine tried to say, but he didn't sound sure either.

"This is the time to turn around," Merlin half-begged. Gwaine shook his head and took another step forward, despite Merlin's best efforts to keep them in place.

"No, I have to know now. Seriously, when I came here the other day, it was completely empty."

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Merlin closed his eyes and let himself be dragged forward, listened to the door creak open, and heard Gwaine's sharp intake of breath. 

"Merlin, Merlin, Merlin--" Gwaine tapped Merlin's arm, and shit, anything that had Gwaine scared had to be absolutely horrible, he didn't want to see it, he desperately wanted to just turn around and run out, but--

Merlin opened his eyes.

And frowned. "What."

On the floor in front of them were several lit candles, arranged to spell out the letters I-L-U.

Gwaine started laughing, and all the tension in Merlin's body was slowly easing away into a kind of vague relief.

"Happy anniversary. I love you." Gwaine brushed a kiss against Merlin's jaw. It was probably shock that kept Merlin from lashing out.

Gwaine had given him a haunted house experience for their anniversary. ("Man, all these haunted houses are lame," Merlin had said after the last one they tried. "I keep expecting to be properly scared and then it's all the cheap tricks and family friendly crap.")

And after it all sank in, Merlin had to start laughing too. "You arse! You got me really going there."

"You liked it? I thought for sure it wouldn't be enough, but then suddenly you were acting like that, and..."

Merlin let him ramble while he took in the rest of the room. "Is that an inflatable mattress over there?"

"Yeah, I brought it over earlier today and made sure it was properly pumped full of air. Just in case."

Okay, yeah, it was sexy that Gwaine had put all that planning into this when he could barely plan a trip to the pub. This time it was Merlin dragging Gwaine forward, and he pushed Gwaine onto the mattress. 

Gwaine barely had time to lie down before Merlin was on top of him, all of the earlier adrenaline fueled into a searing kiss. Merlin's tongue tangled with Gwaine's, his hands roamed under Gwaine's shirt, and whatever obscene noises they were making now were probably alerting all the ghosts to their presence. The thought made Merlin giggle.

Gwaine pulled away briefly--Merlin chased after his lip, nipping at it--and stared. "What's funny?"

"Oh, nothing." Merlin grinned. "I think I was promised something blown?"

Gwaine smiled back. "I think I can manage that."

\--

So, dating Gwaine was always an adventure. 

But Merlin couldn't think of anybody else he'd want to go on adventures with anyway.


End file.
